Silkie thread!

[BarredRockMommy]

I have to find some pics of my old girl! beautiful birds everyone!

 

[BarredRockMommy]

This was my girlie we lost her to a prolapse !

 

[Stacyoung13]

This was my girlie we lost her to a prolapse !
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Beautiful bird She looks like my Cotton

 

[NNYchick]

I got an order of 15 splash silkies from cackle back in 2016. I think they were really pretty for hatchery silkies, if I was going to order from a hatchery again I'd definitely go with cackle hatchery for silkies. They were all bearded, a few had vaults and I think most had 5 toes on each foot and decent foot feathering, it looked like most had the correct combs but one or two did have single combs. A couple did come with really curled toes that we had to straighten with band aid boots. If I'm remembering right they sent 16 and they all made it to us alive. I'd watch for coccidia, we started treating all the chicks for coccidia two days after they arrived when we first noticed one was acting lethargic and had blood in its stools (sadly that one passed around 6 hours after seeing symptoms), I don't know for sure it was coccidia though, the rest never came down with symptoms and I never had trouble with coccidia before or after.

We didn't have a lot of room so we only kept a few. Here are some pictures of 3 pullets we had at around 5 months I think (we had to move shortly after so re-homed these guys).

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Nice! I’m hoping for the best, I don’t plan on keeping all of them. I have never had mail order chicks before I’m a little nervous. As a matter of fact I’ve never raised any chicks that I didn’t hatch myself. My first flock of Silkies came from fishmtfarm and they were all 6 weeks and older.
I have been hatching seramas, I let my broody hatch 13 serama eggs and then I filled the incubator and have 4 so far.

 

[NNYchick]

Nice! I’m hoping for the best, I don’t plan on keeping all of them. I have never had mail order chicks before I’m a little nervous. As a matter of fact I’ve never raised any chicks that I didn’t hatch myself. My first flock of Silkies came from fishmtfarm and they were all 6 weeks and older. I decided to go this route because last year I did shipped eggs, I figured this way at least I’m starting with guarantee to be alive or I get my money back chicks the correct variety and can decide from there who to keep.
I have been hatching seramas, I let my broody hatch 13 serama eggs and then I filled the incubator and have 4 so far.
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[LynnaePB]

Aww your serama babies are adorable! I've only got chicks mailed that one time but I think it went pretty well (hatching from local eggs is by far my favorite when possible). I'm trying to start a little breeding flock so went the shipped egg route this year but it's definitely a bit of a roller coaster never knowing how many will actually hatch. We had a really easy time finding homes for our extra cackle babies, I think the splash color was a big draw. Good luck with your cackle babies when they arrive!

 

[Stacyoung13]

What is the standard comb for a true silkie?

 

[ketojenn]

A couple I just hatched out this weekend. I bought eggs that had a mix of colors and traits, like showgirl. Can someone explain the difference between silkie, satin, showgirl? Pics for visual would be awesome!

 

[LynnaePB]

A couple I just hatched out this weekend. I bought eggs that had a mix of colors and traits, like showgirl. Can someone explain the difference between silkie, satin, showgirl? Pics for visual would be awesome!

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I've been trying to figure out the differences too, I think I have the general idea after researching. It's my understanding that the main difference between those three is the type of feathers they have and whether they have a naked neck in the case of the showgirls. I could be wrong but this is what I've gathered about them. Hopefully someone who knows more will come along and either confirm or correct this information.

Showgirl is just a name for a naked neck silkie. A naked neck silkie chick (showgirl) will have a bald or partially bald neck when they hatch and won't grow feathers in the bald areas as they age. The level of baldness can vary depending on the genetics of the parents.

Satins will not have the normal silkie feathers, they either have smooth feathers like most chicken breeds have or frizzle feathers that curl. Smooth and frizzle satins can come in the naked neck variety as well.

Silkies are a recognized breed that has a variety of recognized colors, they can come in a bearded or non bearded variety. White naked neck silkies (white showgirls) are approved as a variety of silkie by the ABA (American Bantam Association) but I don't think any other color is approved yet.

Satins are not a recognized breed but I believe satin breeders are working on getting them recognized so they very well could be in the future.

I don't have any pictures personally (and I'm not sure about copyright rules and posting images that don't belong to me here) but if you look up "silkie feather types" in google images I think the 4th picture from the left on the top row has a good example of the different feather types (one of the frizzled satins in that picture also happens to be a naked neck as well). You should also be able to type in "naked neck silkie" in google images and get lots of pictures of them.

As far as telling what type your little babies are you'll probably have to wait a week or two to tell feather type. It should be fairly obvious at hatch if they will be naked neck silkies or satins based on if they have a bald neck or a fuzzy neck.

Good luck with your new babies, they are adorable!

 

[ketojenn]

I did hatch one naked neck